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(Click refresh or reload for current message) Wednesday, August
24, 2022
The Columbia-Wrightsville
Veteran's Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna River
Photo
by Nancy Martin
Click on photo to enlarge
"Living
As Children Of Light"
“They
grope in darkness with no light” (Job 12:25). “But the
way of the wicked is like deep darkness” (Proverbs
4:19). “So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and
put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12). “For you
were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light
consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and
find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do
with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather
expose them” (Ephesians 5:8-11). "In the same way, let
your light shine before others, that they may see your
good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew
5:16).
Our Sunday School Class is
studying an extremely timely book by Pastor Erwin Lutzer
titled "We Will Not be Silenced". The subtitle is
"Responding Courageously to our Culture's Assault on
Christianity".
Those of
us who faithfully follow Christ are deeply distressed by
the direction in which Lutzer sees our country* heading
and it is accelerating day by day. Over the past week I
received at least two evidences of our culture's assault
on Christianity.
I read an
article about a Christian School in Florida under
vicious attack for merely holding on to Biblical
standards of morality (see description below). These
attacks remind me of those residents of Sodom seeking to
break down the doors to Lot's house (Genesis 19).
Then I
received a letter from Dayspring, a local Christian
school in Lancaster County which is now banned, along
with many other faithful ministries from participating
in Extragive, a local community fundraiser because they
refuse to abandon their convictions regarding sexual
morality (again see below).
These are
just a couple of examples of the flood of evil sweeping
our land seeking to silence the faithful witness of
those who refuse to bow the knee to the Baals of our
age.
A key component for all who faithfully follow Christ in this present time is living as children of the light! It’s interesting that one of the many distorted pictures Satan presents as “having a good time” is going into places of darkness. Proverbs 4:19 states, “But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness”. Perhaps you can easily conjure up such a place in your mind. For me a casino, bar, brothel, "adult" bookstore and other such places represent places of "deep darkness". But there are many more. What a deceitful lie many have come to believe! In reality an ancient word from Job is so pertinent, "They grope in darkness with no light". Christians are often portrayed as a disgruntled, judgmental type of people who really don’t know how to enjoy life. I contrast that portrayal with my personal experience as a follower of Christ for over 50 years. For me the experience has been far more positive than negative, although there certainly has been hard times. Being in a joy-filled church service, gathering with Christ followers around our big dining room table for a home Bible Study, enjoying activities with men on a campout (Stephen) or sharing with women at a ladies fellowship (Brooksyne). A fruitful happy marriage and the blessing of family and friends are among the many joys of living in the light. Above all the joy of knowing Christ. The
tremendous prayer support and encouragement from the
body of Christ extended to me in times of need leads me
to say along with so many others in times of crises:
“What would I do without the body of Christ?” My
brothers and sisters who uphold me in prayer and
encourage me with their words and actions. I’ll take
that kind of life over the dark, often dangerous, and
godless places that those who walk in darkness are drawn
to!
The radiant light of God’s Holy Word exposes and dispels darkness. When God’s servants live as children of light, darkness is dissipated. All of us, in one way or another, are impacted by darkness. By God’s grace and through His might, as believers we want our light to shine brightly to expose and then dispel the darkness! We cannot dabble in darkness and still live in the light. God has not called us to blend in but rather we are to stand out as those whose lives are filled “with goodness, righteousness and truth”. When we try to blend in we are putting ourselves at danger since one force will eventually overtake the other. We were
once darkness but are now light in the Lord and thus we
are to live as children of light and find out what
pleases the Lord. We must have nothing to do with the
fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. In
our present day when crusaders of darkness are applauded
or upheld as "courageous" role models, let us hear the
resounding call God has placed upon us to "live as
children of light!"
This
little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Don’t let Satan blow it
out! I’m gonna let it shine
Don’t let Satan blow it out!I’m gonna let it shine Don’t let Satan blow it out! I’m gonna let it shine Let it shine, all the time, let it shine Be
encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Jesus,
You are the Light of the world. And
because You reside in our hearts we
are a reflection of Your holy light.
The world we live in is dark and
growing even darker as Satan’s
sinister and deceitful schemes are
being played out. Help us not to
dismiss or disregard the darkness that
is spreading lest the darkness
overtake us as well. Instead we ask
You to empower us through the light of
Your Holy Spirit to shine in a wicked
and decadent society. We come against
the darkness by speaking against
wickedness in all forms. And, Lord,
help us to be consistent not only in
what we speak but the manner in which
we live, for our actions often speak
louder than our words. May the “fruit
of the light consisting in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth”
be evident in all we do since we have
“put aside the deeds of darkness and
put on the armor of light.” Fortify
and encourage those individuals and
groups targeted by the world's
anti-biblical stance on moral issues
of our day as they stand strong in the
power of the Lord, for it is in Your
name, Jesus, that we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow
and Friday we will examine two perils of
spiritual darkness, spiritual
troglomorphism and spiritual
nyctophilia.
*
The assaults of Christianity are
certainly not limited to the country
we live in but are happening
worldwide, some in far, far greater
ways.
Here's
the report about the Christian
School in Florida:
As
many schools do at the beginning of
the school year, Grace Christian
School sent out a reminder to
all parents about the school’s
standards of conduct. Included in that
notice was a statement that sexual
activity outside of marriage was not
permitted by the school.
The school also prohibits the growing transgender ideology that insists we all lie about a person’s gender if they decide they are something other than their biological sex. In other words, there are no “preferred pronouns” in this school! Boys are addressed as “he/him” and girls are addressed as “she/her.” This is not a new policy for Grace Christian School and it is exactly what you would expect at any Christian school. But the school is now facing a barrage of hate for reiterating these commonsense, biblical principles. Barry McKeen, an administrator at Grace Christian School commented: “It’s
funny for us to. . . be painted as
hateful. We have fielded . . .
probably thousands of phone calls .
. . with just some of the most
outrageous things: People
threatening to burn my house down,
threatening to kill my family. . .
“Maybe God has picked us for this particular time to just encourage [like-minded people] that, ‘Hey, there are things worth standing up for, and we’re going to do that.’” Here's
the pertinent paragraphs from the
letter I received from Dayspring
Christian Academy here in
Lancaster County that relates to
"Extra Give":
Recent
changes with Extra Give have raised
deep concerns about the direction of
the Community Foundation. The
Foundation is increasingly
telegraphing that organizations that
do not share its progressive social
agenda will not be welcome to
participate in Extra Give in the years
to come and will also raise the cost
of participation for many that do.
Beginning
this year, the Foundation is requiring
participating organizations to submit
non-discrimination policies for public
disclosure. The Foundation is making
it clear that advancement of sexual
orientation and gender identity issues
are now a priority, and as a result
are placing a spotlight on
organizations that cannot in good
conscience advance that agenda.
Dayspring
Christian Academy has made the
decision to leave Extra Give knowing
that our future is limited based on
the Foundation's social agenda. (The
very core of Dayspring's mission is
bringing restoration to our nation's
biblical foundation. In the recent
years, at many of our Remember America
Speaker Series events, we have called
on our fellow Christians to have
courage and stand for what is right.
To continue to yolk ourselves to an
organization which is pushing such an
anti-Biblical and harmful agenda is
not something we can or will do.)
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
"This
Little Light Of Mine" Video Jason
Crabb or this one by Marty
Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
Today's
lead photo was taken by our friend Nancy
Martin who wrote, "Galen and I
celebrated 49 years of marriage with
dinner at the John Wright Restaurant.
We had a beautiful evening and I took
this picture afterwards. The sun was
just right and the water calm." It is
indeed a beautiful photo!
Before we
headed out early yesterday morning I
took a photo of Brooksyne across the
road from our house standing next to the
cornfield. Since we can't extend a
measuring tape to the top of the corn we
are guessing by Brooksyne's height of
5'4" that the corn is double that
(tassel included) making the corn nearly
10' high. The rains have contributed to
healthy fields of corn in our
neighborhood. As we have traveled
throughout the state, and hear from
friends back home and elsewhere, many
communities are praying for rain to
saturate their dry fields and yards.
Lord, send forth rain, we pray!
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Stephen & Brooksyne Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." © Copyright 2022 Stephen C. & Brooksyne Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA |